Clatsop County OR Archives Biographies.....Haggblom, Captain John E. February 20, 1866 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com August 29, 2010, 12:47 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 556 - 557
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     CAPTAIN JOHN E. HAGGBLOM, who comes of a race of seafaring men, is well 
known to navigators of the Columbia river as a master mariner and for fifteen 
years has been in the service of the United States government, maintaining his 
home in Astoria. A native of Finland, he was born at Mariechan on Alnd island, 
February 20, 1866, a son of Mattis and Eureka Haggblom, lifelong residents of 
that country. At an early age his father shipped before the mast and remained 
a seaman until he was thirty-five, when he purchased a farm and engaged in 
cultivating his land until 1895, when death terminated his labors. His widow 
long survived him, passing away in 1926, at the advanced age of eighty-four 
years. They had a family of eight children and six are now living.

     Captain Haggblom received a common school education and remained at home 
until he reached the age of fourteen, when he responded to the call of the 
sea, and for six years followed the life of a sailor. During that time he 
visited many European ports and also made several trips to America. In 1887 he 
decided to become a landsman and spent a year in Buffalo, New York. Going to 
Michigan, he secured work in a sawmill and a lumber camp near Metropolitan, 
and in May, 1888, journeyed westward to Victoria, British Columbia. His 
adventurous spirit next took him to Reevers Inlet, Alaska, where he earned a 
livelihood by fishing, and at the end of two months started for California. 
Being unable to find work in San Francisco, he went to the lumber camps of 
Mendocino county and was there employed for a year. In August, 1889, he 
arrived in Vancouver, Washington, and worked for a few months in a rock quarry 
near the city. His next position was that of fish buyer for Smith & Company 
and for nineteen years he acted in that capacity, giving to the firm the 
services of an expert. In 1901 he built the launch Louise and embarked in the 
fishing and jobbing business in partnership with Charles Larsen, of Astoria, 
with whom he was associated until 1907. Disposing of his holdings to his 
partner, Captain Haggblom then built the Hulda I., a larger vessel of the same 
type, and operated the boat until 1911. It was in that year he received his 
license as a master mariner and then constructed the Hulda, operating the boat 
for several years. In 1913 he was made pilot of the Donald Currie, a 
government launch, and has since been retained in that responsible position, 
serving under Dr. Pilkington, government health officer. Captain Haggblom is 
conscientious, thorough and efficient in the performance of his duties and 
carefully inspects all vessels from foreign ports before they are permitted to 
enter the Columbia river, ordering the fumigation of such ships as require it 
and keeping them in quarantine until the rules and regulations of the 
government are complied with.

     Captain Haggblom was married in Portland. Oregon, in 1895, to Miss Eureka 
Carlson, a native of Finland and a daughter of Andrew Carlson, a farmer, who 
always remained in that country. There were two children of this union. Hulda, 
who was graduated from the local high school and completed a course in a 
business college, lives at home. The son, John William, was born in Astoria, 
May 2, 1898, and met death by drowning in 1906.

     The family home is an attractive residence, erected by Captain Haggblom 
in 1915. His fraternal affiliations are with the Woodmen of the World and the 
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He advocates good roads and schools and 
lends the weight of his support to all worthy civic projects. Honesty is one 
of his salient characteristics and his word is as good as his bond. Having 
visited nearly every part of the globe, Captain Haggblom thoroughly 
appreciates Astoria's advantages and desirability as a place of residence and 
is deeply attached to the state and country of his adoption. From an early age 
he has depended upon his own exertions for a livelihood and owes his 
advancement to proven worth and ability. By nature he is modest, sincere and 
kind-hearted and his many good qualities have won for him a secure place in 
the esteem of his fellowmen.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/clatsop/bios/haggblom1259gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/

File size: 4.9 Kb